


Magic and Iron

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Iron Man (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bisexual Harry Potter, Bisexual Tony Stark, Business, F/F, F/M, Female Harry Potter, Harry Potter Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Harry Potter Has a Different Name, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Indian Harry Potter, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Iron Man 1, Rosemary Potter is Harry, Set in 2000, Tony Stark was born in 1975, tony stark is younger than canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24456712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After the war, many thought Rosemary Potter would become an Auror, including herself, but on the first day of training, two months after the war, she quit within ten minutes. Instead, she used her inheritance from the Potters and Blacks and some business lessons from the Goblins to buy and invest in businesses in the Muggle World, Sirius would never have approved of her using the money for anything but something that his family would have hated. Her work gets noticed by the Muggle World, and soon she's famous and that gets Tony Stark interested.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tony Stark
Comments: 60
Kudos: 653





	1. Rosemary Potter and the Flute of Champagne

**Author's Note:**

> As mentioned in the tags, Tony is younger than canon, I have moved his birth year by 5 years so he was born in 1975 rather than 1970. Rosemary (Harry) was still born in 1980. This brain child came to me the other day when I had a Marvel quiz and after 2 glasses of wine decided to do face makeup as Iron Man. That combined with a day of reading fem!Harry fics, came this.

It was June 2000, Rosemary Potter had spent the last month at various events celebrating two years since Voldemort’s defeat, and when she wasn’t at the events, she was spending as much time as possible with Victorie, the first Weasley born after the war, and goddamn she was beautiful. Her family time with the Weasleys always included Teddy Lupin, her godson who would use his metamorphmagus abilities to switch his hair between bright, Weasley red and the black of his Auntie Rosie. It meant more than words could describe to know that he loved her that much, especially as most months she could only see him at weekends due to her busy life, but Andromeda took fantastic care of him and the two way mirrors were amazing for when she needed some Teddy in her life after a particularly hard day at work, or on weekends she was out of country and couldn’t come back for their weekends together. Today was one such occasion, she was in New York to attend a charity gala for underprivileged children, she had asked for her donation to be put towards a free library and sports centre. With the time difference she had called Teddy and Andy at lunchtime so she could talk with him before he went to bed and have a catchup with Andy once he had fallen asleep.

After the war many thought Rosemary Potter would become an Auror, including herself, but on the first day of training, two months after the war, she quit within ten minutes. The story to the public was that she was just tired of fighting having spent seven years as the figurehead for the war, but that was only partially true. The reality of the matter was she had heard the noise of someone falling after being hit with a stunner and had travelled back to all the moments she’d heard a body hit the floor to never get up again. Rosemary had PTSD, something that her therapist said was only to be expected after the war, and when she gained the courage to talk about it, her PTSD was also to be expected after the ten years of abuse she suffered at the hands of the Dursley’s. As well as dealing with her mental health issues, Rosemary had been learning all about businesses and finances, a meeting with Gringotts had revealed the large inheritance she had received from Sirius in the forms of several businesses and billions of galleons, all in all, it had been a very shocking revelation but it had led her to where she was now. In a move that her godfather would have greatly appreciated, she had used the Black fortune to invest in and buy various companies in the muggle world.

The first had been The Grunnings Drill Company her Uncle worked for, that had been partially out of revenge, and partially because the Goblins had investigated it and told her that it would be a very valuable investment, especially with its connections in America. It was now eighteen months from the beginning of her adventure into the world of business and she’d had to hire people to manage the day to day, the calls from companies asking for her investment, people researching those companies to find out if they were legitimate. It was fairly easy to get Rosemary to invest, she wasn’t interested in if the company would make her money, only if the company was good. At one point a researcher had reached out asking for money to help his research, but he worked with weapons, weapons meant war, something she wanted as far away from as possible.

All of this had given her a name in the Muggle world, she’d read an article titled ‘The Mysterious Rosemary Potter’ that had made her laugh, it had centred on trying to find out where she had come from and the lack of information they could find out about her. Some of that came from her years away from the Muggle World, but the majority of it was that she just didn’t give interviews, she didn’t have a good experience with the press, Rita Skeeter had always twisted her words and the best way to stop that happening again, was to just not say anything. Her appearance at events were the only times she couldn’t escape from saying anything to the press, and so she normally just told them that she was excited for the event and that they should all donate to a cause they thought was valuable. The causes she normally donated to involved helping children in situations similar to the one she had been in before she had turned eleven, abused children, or ones from poor backgrounds that needed help to get out of the cycle of poverty.

It was 7 pm on June 14th when Rosemary arrived at the gala, her dark hair curled with a nifty spell, the curls falling softly against the dark red material of her figure-hugging dress, it wasn’t her usual style but she’d been shopping with Ginny who had said that it looked amazing on her and despite the fact they hadn’t dated in almost a year, she still held her opinion in very high regard, especially when it was regarding how she dressed. She decided to wear heels too, the cushioning charms being the only thing that stopped her taking them off within five minutes of putting them on, the fact that it made her four inches taller than her usual five foot four also helped, but she wouldn’t admit that out loud. She smiled warmly at the cameras as she walked inside, she knew that there were several celebrities and well-known business people coming tonight that they were no doubt hoping to get embarrassing pictures of, especially with the free bar that was inside.

  
Once she was inside, she helped herself to a flute of champagne, thanking the waiter quickly, before she circulated. Hermione had helped her learn facts about the guests that were at the event tonight, and it was fun to see who in the crowd she could recognise, as well as the facts she could remember. Before she had a chance to go and say hello to one person she knew from meeting at a previous event, she heard her name from behind, with a smooth turn she smiled warmly at the person behind her.  
“Mr Stark, isn’t it?” she asked, despite knowing the answer. Tony Stark was infamous, with the amount of time she spent in the muggle world, she’d have to be an idiot to not know who he was.  
Tony smirked at her, and god, she had never seen that smirk on anyone but a Malfoy before today, but it did look a lot better on him than it ever did on Draco.  
“It is, but please, call me Tony.”  
Rosemary raised an eyebrow before nodding, “Only if you call me Rosemary, Tony.” Even in her heels, she had to tilt her head up to look into his eyes, he was only just shorter than Ron.  
“Well, Rosemary,” he said her name slowly as if tasting how it felt in his mouth, “I must say you’re looking stunning tonight, in fact, it’s making me regret that we haven’t met sooner but from what I’ve read, you were a ghost until you started taking the business world by storm.”  
She couldn’t help but laugh at that, him calling her a ghost wasn’t too far from the truth, after all, she had died before. “Not a ghost, just simply at a boarding school. Just because I keep my life private, unlike you, doesn’t mean I’m a ghost.”

Now that was a noise Tony wanted to memorise, the sound of her laugh. It was very common for him to be attracted to someone, whether they were male or female, but something about Rosemary Potter drew him to her in a way he hadn’t experienced before. He was so focused on remembering her laugh he almost missed the small jibe she made about him, and god did he love people that were snarky, and he had learnt more about her, that she had gone to boarding school.  
“My, my, that almost hurt,” he teased her. “It’s not my fault people like bragging about spending nights with me, well I guess it is my fault. If they want to share information about me to the press, then I really don’t mind. I went to boarding school too, for a while anyway. They expelled me when my experiment almost destroyed one of their science labs.”  
He recognised the look that went over her face then, the amusement clearly showing in the way her eyes twinkled, small creases appearing on the sides of them as she kept in her laughter.  
“I know twins that used to do similar things. They once set up a fireworks display in our dining hall, if they hadn’t used it as a way to drop out, they’d have been expelled. They made the fireworks themselves too. Thank god I had the genius to invest in their company when I was fourteen.” Now that was an interesting fact, one that the media didn’t know about. According to everything he had read, her first purchase was Grunnings when she was eighteen, but she had been four years younger and her friends’ company sounded a lot different from a drilling company, and so he asked her about it. They talked for half an hour, not just about her friends’ company (a prank business he had learnt) but about other businesses she’d invested in, she had a very interesting mind, one he hoped she’d continue to put to good use.

Tony smiled at her, he wanted to know as much as possible about the mysterious Miss Potter but the gala was just about to properly start and it wouldn’t do to be seen talking while they gave speeches about the charity.  
“Rose, if I may call you that, here’s my number, please call, or text me about anything. I’d love to learn more about you, everything I’ve heard so far has been thrilling.” Tony took one of his business cards out of his pocket and used a pen to quickly write his personal number on it before handing it to Rosemary.  
Rosemary smiled at him, “As long as you stick to Rose, Rosie is saved for my godson to call me, but if you wish to be on the same level as a two-year-old, go ahead.” She laughed softly, tucking the card into her bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Is it likely for a 19-year-old to be such a big person in business/investments that Tony Stark has heard of her, well when she's a billionaire, yes. Rosemary may have come from rough beginnings, but money can buy success. She is doing it in Sirius' name, as a heck you to his family, but she is well aware that someone like Ron (who didn't have a large inheritance) wouldn't be able to do the same thing. The PTSD is going to be a good part of this story. As a sufferer of it myself, I will be using some of my own symptoms of it as that is what I know best about. Tony is already interested in our Rosemary, but she isn't going to be as quick as he is. TEASER FOR NEXT CHAPTER: As you can tell, she has an aversion to weapons, which'll be a huge part of her and Tony's interactions over the next chapter.


	2. Rosemary Potter and the Lack of Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She's used to nights like this, but that doesn't make them any easier

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: this chapter deals with Rosemary's thoughts during a bad night of mental health including hints of self-harm

She felt it, the dull ache all over her body as the only image in her mind was the Great Hall, the scattered bodies she saw when she first entered it. With each shaky breath, she remembered all the different faces she had seen as she walked through the place that had previously held so many  _ precious _ memories.

She remembered Lavender, the girl who had gotten the freedom the year before to do what most teenage girls do, and live a few months in a happy bubble with Ron before it exploded in a dramatic way that only teenagers can manage. 

She remembered Remus, the last Marauder, the one who taught her so much, and then Tonks next to him, the gut-wrenching feeling that always accompanied remembering them as it always reminded her that the war had created more orphans, and Teddy was one of them, Teddy who lost some innocence that day as he would never know a world where his parents existed to hug him, kiss him, instead he’d only ever hear stories from others. 

She remembered Colin, small Colin who had a life ahead of him, who wanted to be a photographer. 

She remembered so many faces and each one brought more and more numbness to her body as she stared out of her window, aware that as each second passed, her chances of sleeping that night were becoming more and more scarce. Nights like this were common for her, her therapist had told her that it was the main way her PTSD presented itself in her, rather than panic attacks at all hours, instead, she felt numb and couldn’t sleep. When the nights came, she was unsure if she’d rather panic attacks or numbness in her entire body and the inability to stop her mind thinking about every little thing she did wrong, or how she could have saved this person or that person. 

Apparently, it was normal for mental health to be worse at night without the distractions that daytime brought but fuck, on the worst nights, when she dug her nails into her arms to try and force her body to feel something,  _ anything _ , did she wish that she had something to distract herself. Sometimes she would wonder what she would do if she was able to move if she would do something more than dig her nails into her arms. She tried not to let her mind settle on that thought too much because she had been through too much, survived too much, to join her parents, to join Sirius and Remus and everyone else that had died, so she kept living.   
She kept herself busy during the daytime, between running her business, to seeing family, and even her meetings with her therapist, she was never free. She was scared to allow herself that.

  
  


Rosemary was once again talking to Hermione about Tony Stark the next day. She had just finished work for the day and her friend was over for dinner, just the two of them. While it was nice to have Ron with them most of the time, sometimes she just needed to speak to Hermione, as it had been after curfew in the Gryffindor dormitories, where they’d speak in whispers about all sorts of secrets that they were sure Ron wouldn’t want to hear. It had been in those dorms that she’d first told her about her crush on Ginny, and five months later they’d fallen asleep talking about her first kiss with the chaser.

Rosemary slowly rubbed a hand over her face, glad it had been a day she hadn’t worn makeup.  
“Mia, it’s not as simple as that! I can’t just text him!” She could admit that during the short amount of time she’d spent with Tony she’d felt a spark and that he had been easy to talk to, not to mention very good looking but there were many issues with talking to Tony Stark, and it wasn’t just his huge media presence.

Hermione looked at her friend and with a look that showed years of putting up with her friend she sighed. “I know, Rose, his company makes weapons, has done since his dad started it. But,” she made certain to place emphasis on the but, “as I said in your office the day you got back, you can talk to him about changing that. He, personally, already focuses on the tech his company makes rather than the weapons.”

Rosemary knew what Hermione was saying was correct, of course, it was, but she was still so unsure. Tony didn’t know what war was like, he had grown up with a lot of privilege in that regard, he might completely disregard anything she said to him about stopping Stark Industries from making weapons, but maybe he’d listen. That small hope, the small hope of him listening to her words and ending the weapon production, that had to be worth trying. Right?

  
After almost nine years of friendship, Hermione knew when Rosemary had given in to her viewpoint by look alone so by the time she looked at her friend again, a smirk had taken over her face.

After spending almost an hour of their evening talking about Tony Stark they had gone onto other matters, it had mainly been Hermione trying to understand how her friendship with Ginny was so strong despite the fact they were exes.   
To herself, it was simple, while they had been great together, they worked better as friends, such great friends that it was Rosemary that Ginny had gone to for advice about asking Luna out a few months ago. They were just friends and there was nothing more to it. In her opinion, the only reason Hermione couldn’t understand it was because it was so different from what would happen if she broke up with Ron. But Ron and Hermione were meant to be together, Rosemary and Ginny weren’t.

That night, Rosemary repeated the conversation that she had shared with Hermione over and over in her head, while she was now leaning towards reaching out to Tony, she still had some reservations in her heart, she had dedicated her career towards helping people with the wealth she had inherited and becoming friends, or even potentially more, with someone whose company made weapons felt like she was completely going against that, even if Hermione had pointed out that she could change all of that.   
Deep down, she knew that she would end up texting or calling him, while she was someone who happened to be more on the pessimist side than the optimist, she still saw glimmers of hope even when her anxiety made her overthink the negatives.

It was early the next morning when she finally grabbed her phone, slowly typing the number she had been given for Tony into it, the buttons making the clicking noise she had grown used to since Hermione had convinced her to buy the device a year ago. With a few more presses of her fingers, she opened up the text application and carefully typed out a short message to Tony. And, as she told herself, if he didn’t reply, she could blame doing it on the two hours of sleep she had had over the last forty-eight hours.

_ Hi Tony, it’s Rosemary Potter. I’ve been busy so sorry for the delay in texting. How are you? -Rose _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> side note before the main note it was hard to write Rose saying her and Ginny weren't made to be as normally I am very much of the opposite persuasion but I wanted to have some Lunny (linny?) and a lot Tony/Rosemary  
> Also, Fred is alive, I don't currently have plans for him to appear but he's alive.
> 
> So, this chapter went in a completely different direction to how I thought it was going to go. I had always planned for the end of the chapter to be Rosemary texting Tony for the first time and there to be a section about her nights with her mental health, I, however, didn't expect so much so soon about it, but it felt right. It flowed out, the rest of the chapter wasn't as easy to write. It was hard to bridge the gap between her night and then her texting Tony as she is certainly not at the point where she would reach out to him. Rose also trusts Hermione's judgement, even if she did wait until the following morning to act on her advice :'). This chapter is dedicated to my ex, Ella, we made fun of a white supremacist on Twitter together yesterday and are probably going to write a crackfic together soon :)


	3. Rosemary Potter and the Numerous Texts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Texting has Rose blushing

_Hi Tony, it’s Rosemary Potter. I’ve been busy so sorry for the delay in texting. How are you? -Rose_

Tony’s reply came almost immediately, which was surprising as she knew that with the time difference it was two in the morning in New York, but she was never one to judge someone’s sleep schedule.

_Rose, I was beginning to think you had lost my number! You like keeping a guy waiting, huh? I’m great now I’ve heard from you ;). How’s England?_

It makes her smile, the ease in the words of the text, the casual way he flirted with her but she didn’t let her thoughts dwell on those feelings for too long.

_England’s good, I’m assuming. I’m in Wales though. I’m sorry for keeping you waiting, there was a reason for that. -Rose_

_That came off a lot ruder than I meant I’m sorry! -Rose_

It hadn’t taken more than ten seconds after she sent the first text to regret the way she phrased the delay in messaging Tony, so Rosemary quickly sent an apology before waiting for a response, not knowing how long it would be until she got one.

It turned out that she wouldn’t get a response from him until she got to her office, her text alert surprising her after the popping noise of apparition.

_Wales? Tell me more. Are you on a business trip?_

_Don’t worry, but I do want an explanation for that!_

“Fuck,” Rosemary murmured under her breath, she had forgotten that to the Muggle World it would be suspicious if she lived in Wales but worked in London. That is precisely why she shouldn’t text before her morning cup of coffee. She ran a hand over her face as she waited for the kettle to boil, having the kettle in her office had been the best decision she had ever made, not only was it good in meetings but it also meant her assistant could focus on more important things than making Rosemary a drink when she couldn’t leave her office herself due to said meetings.

_I live in Wales, well that’s where my home is anyway. I also have a house in London which is where I live in the week but I felt the need to go home yesterday so I went back for the night. -Rose_

_I had some apprehension about texting you. Fuck, I’m trying to figure out how to say it without insulting your company. -Rose_

_I hate weapons. Despise them. My biggest rule about how I invest is nothing that produces weapons. It was my natural instinct to stay away from you considering the fact you’re CEO for a company that makes weapons. -Rose_

_My company and I are two separate things, Rose, but I guess I understand. I know there was a lot going on in the UK recently and they were never able to tell what weapons were used in a lot of the killings._

_I focus on the tech side of the company. It’s what brings me the most joy. I’m currently working on an Artificial Intelligence but that’s not for SI, it’s just for me._

_Hell of a commute you have this morning then. 200 odd miles._

Rosemary let out a large sigh of relief into her coffee at his response to what she had said about weapons, it made her feel like the chance she had to stop the weapon production from Stark Industries was not zero per cent, even if he’d sounded a little defensive that she had grouped him together with the company, but they shared a name, and he was in charge of it. Her relief, however, was short-lived as his last text came through onto her phone. Deciding that it was too soon to just ask him to stop his company producing the weapons, Rosemary decided to focus on the other matter at hand, and that was getting herself out of the hole she had dug herself into.

_You’d be surprised by how much work you get done on a train. I don’t have a face-to-face meeting until this afternoon so all I need to do is go over some documents. What about you though? Some busy meeting keeping you up until 3:30 am? -Rose_

_Ahh, okay :). I get all my best work done at night. Maybe you should spend a night with me, experience Tony Stark at his best ;)_

_Was that an attempt at flirting? -Rose_

_Do British men not flirt? Is that why you’re asking?_

_No, British men are just better at flirting that you are. They do the whole sending chocolate thing, sometimes even flowers. -Rose_

_Oh, how you wound me with your words!_

_So the article I read that called you dramatic was accurate? -Rose_

_Potter, if I could stick my tongue out at you right now, I would._

_:P -Rose_

_That would have been better if you didn’t sign your texts with your name. I do have you as a contact in my phone, so I know who’s texting me._

_Ten minutes ago you were flirting with me, now you’re insulting me. I don’t understand you Americans! -Rose_

_I wasn’t insulting you per se… merely making fun of the way you text._

_Fine, then I’m gonna make fun of your… I don’t know, maybe your goatee? What twenty-five your old has a goatee?? -Rose_

_One who knows it makes him look even more attractive._

_You’re not wrong. -Rose_

She stared at her phone in horror, surprised that she had admitted that, not just to herself but to Tony himself, that wasn’t something she normally did but it had been so easy to get lost in the flirty banter. She had understood his appeal physically to all the people he had slept with when she first saw a picture of him, he was very conventionally attractive, with his tanned skin, angular face, and _fuck_ the facial hair they were talking about made her want to touch it and feel it all over her body, and now she was having a conversation with him again, she completely understood why people all over the world called him charming. A beep from her phone dragged her out of her thought.

_Glad to know you think I’m attractive, Rose. I’d have loved to have heard it fall from your lips but I guess I can accept a text for now._

_Next, you’re going to ask me for a kiss, am I right? -Rose_

_Don’t be ridiculous, Rose, I would never ask you for a kiss when we’re thousands of miles apart. I’d much rather ask you in person._

_My train just pulled into Paddington, I have to go now, work’s going to keep me much busier than reading through some documents. If you want, you can call me later. I can call you handsome on the phone? -Rose_

_I’ll even tell you how I have an embarrassing trait where I blush whenever someone I want to kiss wants to kiss me too. -Rose_

With that text sent Rosemary turned her phone off and put it in her desk. She hadn’t been lying when she said she was spending the morning going through documents, and it had been easy to text Tony while doing so, a break every now and then to do so was fine, but she was about to spend the rest of her day in meetings and she didn’t want the distraction with her. It also meant she could pretend like her sudden boost of confidence hadn’t happened until she finished work for the day. In her, admittedly limited, dating history she had never been the overly confident one until it came to kissing Ginny in a room full of people after a Quidditch match. Maybe it was time for a change, maybe she’d just be confident with her emotions. At that thought, she let out a snort of laughter, startling her assistant in the otherwise empty lift, the day Rosemary Potter was confident with her emotions was the day Voldemort came back from the dead.

When it came time to turn her phone back on, Rosemary was back at home, lying on her sofa with a blanket over her, a cup of tea on the coffee table along with a copy of the latest copy of The Quidditch Times. After a few minutes, the texts Tony had sent in response to her earlier popped up.

_Just hearing your voice is an incentive to say yes to calling you later, but knowing you’re going to call me handsome? Sign me up! Call me when you finish for the day. I’m not going into the office today so I’m free whenever._

_I hope you know that you’ve just made it my job to make you blush whenever possible, especially when it involves talking about how much I want to kiss you._

If the first text had failed to turn her cheeks pink, the second would still have turned her cheeks bright red. As it happened, both succeeded, and Rosemary felt it in the hotness on her face. Tony Stark really did have an unnerving ability to make her blush. After a few minutes were she composed herself she called him, waiting patiently for him to answer.

“Rose! Hello beautiful!” She heard the moment he picked up and the blush that had just faded reappeared.

“So you’re really taking in on as your job to make me blush?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ROSE TEXTS LIKE A GRANDMA NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME! My nanny always signs her texts and goddammit I see Rose doing the exact same thing. Now, I know their conversation about the weapons was merely a few short texts but despite her background of having almost no tact, even she knows she can't ask too much of a man she barely knows. This chapter was mostly about developing their flirty banter. If you couldn't make international calls on cell phones in 2000 then oops, I couldn't find the info on google and in June 2000 I was four months old. I know I've got into a rhythm of posting every two days so I'm hoping to post Friday. SPOILER: a certain redhaired ex of Rose's will make an appearance.


	4. Rosemary Potter and the Birthday Plans

The date was 9th July and Rosemary was in a small cafe in Diagon Alley. As it was a Sunday, the alley was busier than it was in the week, but it was nowhere near as chaotic as it got on Saturdays, something that she was grateful for as it meant she had managed to walk through it with relative ease. Normally when she met up with Ginny it was either at her house or Ginny’s flat, but they both wanted to see Fred and George after their lunch so it was just easier to do lunch in the alley. It was three days after her phone call with Tony and while she waited for her friend to arrive, she couldn’t help but think about the hour they’d spent just talking about a random assortment of things.

“Oi, Rose, at least smile when you see me!” Ginny’s voice brought her out of her thoughts.

Rosemary let out a laugh and quickly apologised before smiling warmly at her. “I’d smile quicker if you actually arrived on time! Ten minutes late, Weasley, I was beginning to think you forgot about me.”

Ginny raised an eyebrow at that, clearly not buying into any of her dramatics as she sat down. “Potter, the day anyone forgets about you is the day there’s a mass obliviate. Now shut up about me being late and start talking about what you want to do for your birthday.”

Rosemary sighed, she should have known her birthday was going to be brought up at the lunch, and in all honesty, she wasn’t that fussed about it. “Dinner at the Burrow. All the Weasleys and partners and Teddy and Andromeda. Simple.” If she said she didn’t care about what happened, then it would be worse, Ginny and co would force her to do something big, no doubt with alcohol and people she didn’t really know.

At that answer, Ginny pouted, she had wanted an excuse to have a party but she knew something intimate was more Rosemary’s scene anyway.  
“Fine, I’ll let Mum know and we’ll get it all sorted. Luna’s excited to see you, she mentioned earlier that she hasn’t seen you since May.” 

Rosemary focused on a very particular part of what Ginny said and smirked. “She said that earlier, huh? Is that why you were late?”

Ginny’s face matched her hair in a matter of seconds, embarrassed at being caught out so easily, once she had regained some of her composure she glared at her friend and said, “fuck you, Rose.”

“No thanks, us having sex is in the past,” she teased.

Ginny immediately stuck her middle finger at Rosemary, causing both of them to burst out in laughter and draw some glares from some of the tables nearby which neither of them noticed.

Once she had regained her breath, Rosemary looked at Ginny with more seriousness, a little nervous to bring the next topic up.

“What did it feel like when you started having feelings for Luna after our breakup?”

If she was shocked by that question, Ginny didn’t let it show, instead she smiled softly and answered, “it felt a little weird. She was the first person I fancied after you so there was a little apprehension, but it felt right. I couldn’t help but feel drawn to her, in the same way, that I had been drawn to you, but different in the same sense. You, Rose, will always be my first love, nothing will ever change that, but we both know by the end, we were just best friends that shagged. There wasn’t much romance left for us. Luna, she feels like our first kiss amplified by a trillion every single time I see her smile.”

Rosemary knew it was weird to feel so much warmth in her heart that her ex was so happy with someone else, but it was Ginny, and it was Luna, two girls that she had been friends with for years, the fact that they’d found so much love with each other made her add another memory to her Expecto Patronum bank.

Later, after they’d eaten lunch and seen the twins, Ginny had wished her luck with whoever she fancied but had tried to drag the name out of her, something Rosemary wasn’t quite ready to share until she was more sure about Tony. Their phone call had provided more insight into the man, and she was beginning to understand more about his behaviours, especially with how he acted with his company. When his father had come up, the way Tony had talked reminded her of how she had, once upon a time, talked about the Dursley’s. He tried to focus on how he just wanted to make him proud, but there was also a slight fear in his voice, a fear of disappointing the late man, but maybe a fear of something more. When she was young, before she was even eight, she had spoken in the same way about her Aunt and Uncle, until she had just turned bitter when she saw how everyone else was being treated. Tony, with his rich upbringing and private schooling, likely hadn’t had the same realisation yet, but that wasn’t something she could easily bring up to him. For now, she would just keep texting him, getting to know him as he was getting to know her.

_Afternoon, Tony. Actually, it’s evening now. I ended up spending more time with Ginny and the twins than I thought! -Rose_

_That, you did. I will admit that I was asleep until half an hour ago. JARVIS has his first trial run soon, I’m nervous but I think he’s going to work._

_Gin would love you, she always complained that I didn’t know what a lie-in was. Even on nights when I slept badly, I’d get up by 8, and she’d get woken up by my movement. -Rose_

_Why were you two sharing a bed?_

_Oh. Fuck. Did I not tell you Ginny and I used to date? -Rose_

_Nope. How long for?_

_Can you show some enthusiasm for JARVIS’ first test run though???_

_Umm, I think almost 18 months total? We split and got back together almost a year later. Then we broke up last August, really put a damper on her birthday party when we arrived and told her family we broke up. -Rose_

_I’m very excited about JARVIS’ run through, Tony. -Rose_

_Wow, that’s a long time. It’s nice you two are still close though._

_I’m glad you’re excited. I’m just booting him up now._

_I’ve never been in a relationship._

_Gin is one of my closest friends. She’s never getting me out of her life, I mean her brother one of my best friends, so she really can’t get me out of her life. -Rose_

_Before Gin, I’d never had a relationship either. In my opinion, if you have a relationship for the sake of having one, it’s not going to work. -Rose_

_You’re not wrong._ _  
_ _I’ve just not had one because I don’t want someone to use me for my money and fame. Just sleeping with people takes away the money risk, plus with the number of people I’ve slept with, no one can really get famous for it anymore._

_He’s online. My baby is online._

_Trust me, I know that. Not the sex part, Ginny’s the only person I’ve been with, but people using you. I get that. In my sixth year, when I was 16, someone tried to force me into a relationship. Didn’t end well. -Rose_

_TELL ME EVERYTHING!!!! How is he? -Rose_

_He’s perfect. Well, not really, I need to fine-tune a couple things, but he’s perfect. I can’t believe it’s worked. My research has worked. Can I call you?_

_Yes, please do. -Rose_

Rosemary could feel Tony’s excitement through the screen and she couldn’t help but smile when he asked to call her, she could feel her feelings build for the man the more she talked with him, and she was a little upset at the fact that due to the thousands of miles between them, it would likely be a while before she could spend time with him in person.

“Hey, Tony,” she answered the phone.

On the other side, a voice filled with excitement replied to her, “I can’t believe my idea has come to life!” he babbled, “JARVIS exists! He’s not just in my brain!”  
Rosemary chuckled at the joy in his voice, “you’re a genius, Tony, of course, it worked. You’ll probably find a way for people to teleport next.”

“I already know teleportation exists, Rose. It’s call apparition, right?”

She froze at that, barely able to keep her phone pressed against her ear as she tried to process the fact that Tony Stark, a muggle with no connection to the Magical World, knew that magic existed and that she had it.

“Uh, yeah. Apparition. To appart. To be transferred from one place to another almost instantaneously.” Rosemary didn’t know why she was saying the definition of apparating but it was the only thing she could manage to say.

Tony laughed at her bumbling before he quickly explained, “I was bored when I was ten, hacked some government files, found out about magic. Ten-year-old me was excited, my dad didn’t appreciate the visit from SHIELD agents warning us against sharing that information.”  
“And me, how do you know I have magic?” She needed to know, had she let it slip without realising, had he seen her wand at the charity gala?

“Five years ago, when the mysterious deaths started in the UK, I looked into government files to see if they knew what was causing the deaths but weren’t sharing it with civilians. Voldemort was mentioned, as were you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE! Tony knowssssss. IMO I can't really see Tony not knowing about magic with all the secrets he can find out. I hoped you enjoyed the insight into how Rose is feeling about Tony know, as well as some info on her and Ginny's past! But, you ask, when are Rose and Tony going to reunite?
> 
> If you spot any mistakes, please let me know. My brain hasn't really been computing the last two days? I normally write my chapters slowly over two days, but that was just not working for me this time. I couldn't stay concentrated on anything yesterday, and it was a struggle today. I was almost going to have to wait another day or two before posting, but I got it out!


	5. Rosemary Potter and the Lack of Logic

He knew. Tony knew who she was, had known since they met last month. He had kept it from her. Rosemary didn’t know what to say to him so she did the only thing she could think of doing. She hung up the phone.

Within seconds her phone was ringing but she didn’t want to speak to him, she was trying to process her emotions, trying to feel anything but pure  _ anger _ that she had to hide such a paramount part of herself for no fucking reason. He knew.

She declined the call and turned her phone off, knowing he would likely be calling her again and again until she picked up. While she hadn’t known him long, she knew when he wanted something he would stop at nothing to get it.

“FUCK!” she yelled. One of the benefits of living alone meant she could randomly scream if she needed to, and god she really needed to right now. She really thought Tony was different, she really thought he wasn’t talking to her because she was the Girl-Who-Lived, the Girl-Who-Conquered, or whatever stupid title they were calling her this week. She was so used to people not seeing her as merely Rosemary in the Wizarding World, in the Muggle World she thought she’d caught a break, but apparently not. Even Tony Stark was drawn to her only because of her title of world saviour.

It had been a long time since she had been this angry, but it had been a long time since someone had kept a secret from her that she couldn’t spot. She couldn’t help but let out a scream of frustration at the entire situation, it wasn’t fair that due to the prophecy she lost her right to privacy.

If Rosemary was being logical, she would remember that just like her, Tony had a huge reputation that he was constantly trying to run from, trying to create a name for himself outside of Howard Stark’s son, but logic and feelings rarely went hand in hand, and sometimes what we need to do is give in to our emotions, let our anger take over so we can have that moment of clarity later on. 

Tony Stark was sulking. If Rhodey was in the room he would immediately start laughing at the way Tony’s bottom lip pouted out like a toddler who had been denied a candy bar, but Rhodey wasn’t there, he was alone with no one to talk to. Ever since he had first met Rosemary Potter he had been completely enthralled with her, and he wasn’t going to lie and say that it had nothing to do with the fact she’d saved the world from an egotistical maniac. 

The fact she had accomplished so much by the time she was eighteen did play a part of his attraction to her, it was why he had wanted to meet her before he’d even seen a picture of her. But then, then he’d seen a picture of her in Time magazine and he’d wanted to have sex with her. 

He’d learned all he could about her, which wasn’t much due to her love of privacy, but he wanted to have the ability to say he’d slept with the saviour of the world, it just had a nice ring to it. Tony Stark, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, fucker of the saviour of the world.

Then he spent time texting her, had even had two phone calls with her and now he didn’t want to just sleep with her, he wanted to take her on dates. Tony Stark didn’t take people on dates, he sometimes took people on a single date, after they’d have sex and that was it. That was as complicated as his life got, and he liked that. Damn Potter and her ability to make him feel things.

A few days later, in a move that startled many at Stark Industries, Tony agreed to something he would normally try and get someone else to do, he agreed to go to London to talk with one of their main suppliers. He even came up with reasons for why he should go over someone else, citing that they may be more cooperative with lowering some costs if the CEO of SI went instead of someone further down the chain of command. 

When Rosemary Potter apparated into her office after her lunch break on July 17th she wasn’t expecting to see Tony Stark, she wasn’t expecting anyone in her office so she did what any rational witch who’d been through war would do, she pointed her wand at him for the thirty seconds it took for her to calm down enough to realise who was sat in her chair, noting his hands had gone into the air

“What the hell are you doing here?!” she exclaimed, sliding her wand back into her pocket as she glared at the man.

Tony slowly lowered his hands once he saw her put her wand away. “I had a business meeting this morning, thought I’d drop by before I fly home tomorrow. After the third attempt at calling you, I knew you weren’t going to talk to me again unless I turned up here so of course, I used this trip to my advantage.”

Rosemary was still glaring at him, mad at the fact she was still attracted to him despite the distrust that had built from his secret-keeping. 

“Well, go on, talk,” she said bluntly.

Tony took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts together before speaking, but even he didn’t truly understand how he was feeling about all of this.

“When I first read about you, a seventeen-year-old saving the world, you got my attention. Then you came into my world, hell even my COO was talking about the British woman taking the business world by storm, and Time did a spread on you and holy fuck you’re attractive as well.”

Rosemary so far wasn’t impressed in the slightest with his words, he still hadn’t given a reason for lying to her, keeping the fact he knew who she was secret. All he’d done was say she was attractive, it wasn’t impressive to her.

Before she could stop him saying more by kicking him out, he continued talking.

“I know my reputation. Hell, I have no issues with my reputation because it’s true! I do just sleep with people once and never talk to the majority of them again. That’s why I didn’t tell you I knew about your past, because I didn’t plan on anything more than sex with a hot woman, and yes, the fact you saved the world did factor into that.”

Now that was impressive to Rosemary, complete honesty, even if it was a shitty honesty. He had planned on just trying to sleep with her. She was used to people trying to use her for sex, but never them being this upfront about it.

It seemed like Tony had finished speaking, so she finally added her own two knuts in, “Thank you for being honest about it. You’re a jackass, but I appreciate the honesty. I don’t do one night stands, not my cup of tea. I’m a true British prude in that regard.” She smiled softly at him, only her eyes betraying the hurt she felt over losing someone she thought she might be able to date.

Tony smiled back, “I don’t know how I feel about it anymore. I don’t do romance, but I enjoy talking to you. Could I take you to dinner tonight? It’ll be nothing more than dinner. I promise.”

Rosemary looked at him and tried to tell if he was being honest about it being just dinner, but a part of her, deep down, wanted to take the risk and for the first time in a long time, she listened to it rather than her want to keep a protective bubble around herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I get into anything else I wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU! I kept forgetting to when I last posted but seriously, I'm in shock about the amount of love this has received. 300 kudos??? Just wow! And all the comments have been lovely. There was one flame, but I deleted it because it was just hateful rather than constructive. A special thank you to my friend who just read this and said 'GIVE ME MORE' it meant a lot as I'm normally terrified about sharing my writing with IRL people
> 
> So, where have I been for three weeks after posting four chapters in one week? Ah, in a deep hole one calls mental illness. I've had some not fab couple of weeks but I'm slowly digging my way out of it and I had help from the above friend with how to actually craft this chapter and it helped me get out of some serious block space.


	6. Rosemary Potter and the Motorbike Ride

Tony left her after they’d agreed to meet outside of her office building at six that evening, it would give Rosemary half an hour after she finished for the day to pop home and change beforehand as she really didn’t want to go to dinner in her work clothes.

At 6 pm that evening, Rosemary stood outside the offices in a simple red summer dress with yellow flowers on when Tony stepped out of a taxi and walked over to her, a smirk on his face as he blatantly checked her out.

“So, Princess, you’ve spent a lot more time in London than I have. Let’s go to your favourite restaurant for dinner, just give the cab driver the location.” Tony gestured with a dramatic flourish for her to lead on.

Rosemary shook her head, suppressing a laugh at his antics as she quickly paid the driver and told him to leave before she turned back to Tony.

“C’mon, if it’s my choice where we go for dinner, then it’s my choice how we get them.” She quickly began leading him down the road until they got to an alley.

Tony grinned as he followed her, believing that she was going to use magic to take them to the restaurant and god was he excited to experience magic for the first time, especially if it was teleportation.

With a quick wave of her wand and a muttered spell, Rosemary’s motorbike appeared before them in the alley, or rather Sirius’ old motorbike with a few adaptations, mainly the sidecar being taken off. While she didn’t use it every day, having her bike nearby was a huge convenience, but she did mostly use it when she wanted the adrenaline riding it gave her.

After she transfigured an empty beer bottle nearby into another helmet she finally looked at Tony to see his face morphed into an expression that could only be described as shock as his mouth hung open

Letting out a short burst of laughter she asked him, “Are you alright?”

He nodded slowly, swallowing to try and get some moisture back into his mouth. “I didn’t expect you to have a motorbike! I thought you were just going to teleport us!”

Rosemary shook her head, “Nope, trust me, motorbikes are way more fun! Now, put on the helmet and sit on the bike behind me once I’m on.”

Tony spent the next few minutes putting on his helmet and trying to get comfortable on the bike and then they were travelling through the streets of London and he felt freer than he had ever felt in his life, even if he was clinging onto someone else to stay alive. Later, after they’d shared dinner and another journey on the bike together, he would realise how much he had been touching Rosemary, and how in the moment he hadn’t even savoured over it, and he’d regret not memorising the feel of her in his arms.

At just gone 6:20, they arrived at the restaurant after parking the bike nearby, Tony once again got to see magic as Rosemary performed disillusionment charms on their helmets and the bike. He was excited to see that it was an Indian restaurant, he’d been a fan of the food since one of his nannies introduced it to him when he was eight, and it also gave him more information on his date when the  maître d' asked her if she was eating in or taking away like usual. Clearly she frequented here a lot.

Once they were sat at a table, he glanced over the menu before looking at Rosemary, admiring the way her red dress complimented her tanned skin so well.

“So, Rose, tell me why you chose this restaurant to take me to.” Tony was aware that this might be the only chance he got to take her for a date, and he was determined to get to know as much about her as possible, even if it was just small details.

Rosemary looked up from the menu she was only going through for the sake of it, she ordered the same thing every time she was here and she wasn’t likely to change it anytime soon.

“After the war, I lived around the corner from here for a few months, before I bought my house in Wales. The family I lived with when I was younger weren’t exactly supportive of my heritage, I never found out if they hated that I was a witch or that I was Indian more. Finally living without them and without the threat of war over my head, I finally decided to explore my heritage. Thought I’d start with food first.”

Tony listened to her speak, and while she didn’t explicitly say it, he got the impression her family had been abusive. He’d spent enough time around Rhodey to know how prominent racism was in the world, despite how much most white people tried to ignore it, so Rosemary growing up in a white middle-class family who didn’t support her heritage didn’t come as much of a shock to Tony as he wished it had.

“I think your relatives and my father would have gotten along. He similarly hated me for my mere presence in his life,” he admitted. It was a secret kept well by the Starks, that behind closed doors they had been far from a perfect family.

Rosemary smiled softly at him, reaching over the table to give his hand a gentle squeeze. 

“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,” she said simply.

Tony looked at her, confusion written all over his face as he absentmindedly played with the fingers of her’s in his hand.

She let out a laugh at the comical look on his face before explaining, “The family you choose is stronger than the family you’re born into. The saying got butchered into ‘blood is thicker than water.’ I saw it in a library book when I was eight and clung onto it in the hope I’d one day make friends and make my own family.”

He didn’t really know what to say, their childhoods sounded so similar, both aching for someone to love them and instead of finding it where most people do, in their flesh and blood, they found it in friends, but he wasn’t ready to talk about it more than he had, so he steered away from the conversation, asking for stories about her boarding school experience.

Time passed in the little restaurant in London as they ordered and then ate their food, the conversation drifting from business plans to inventions to funny stories about their lives. Tony kept the conversation away from the topic of his father not yet able to truly understand how and why it affected him so much, but by the end of the dinner, he knew if Rosemary gave him the chance, he’d tell her about it when he was ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the support again!! I'm genuinely blown over every day by the amount of love that this has received :)
> 
> This wasn't where I planned on ending the chapter, but it felt right and I didn't want to force the chapter to end somewhere else, but a gold star to whoever guesses how I was originally going to end this chapter!
> 
> Once again, I do have to thank my friend for giving me the idea of bringing up their childhoods during the dinner, honestly, I'm so lucky to have them in my life, especially with how lovely they are about my writing aha.
> 
> I'm doing a little better this week mentally, but I've had a couple of rough days. I've been battling mental illness my entire life though so I was luckily able to manage it. I hope you're all well too.


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